Bracelet attachment



y 1939- A. B. GOULDEN 2,159,080

BRACELET ATTACHMENT Filed Nov. 23, 1938 415527 a 6OUZOZ/K INVENTOR.

- ATTORNEY.

Patented May 23, 1 939 UNl'lED-STATES PATENT OFFICE Albert B. Goulden, Los Angeles, Calif. Application November 23, 1938, Serial No. 241,995

4 Claims.

I My invention relates to bracelet attachments and pertains more particularly to an improved extensible bracelet clasp for watches and the like.

This invention is a continuation in part of my copending application, Serial No. 219,399, filed July 15, 1938;

In addition'to carrying forth certain of the objects and features outlined in the foregoing application, the present invention has among its more important objects the provision of an improved manual releasable means permitting extension of the extendible parts; to furnish improved means for holding the extensible means in adjusted positions; to provide improved mounting means for the releasing means; and to provide a novel camming actionand interlocking means between the pawl and its cooperating aperture, whereby the device is less likely to be accidentally actuated.

Still other objects, advantages, and features of invention will hereinafter appear.

A sheet'of drawings accompanies this specification, wherein the several views, as outlined below, illustrate the invention as now reduced to practice. 7

Fig, 1 is a perspective view of the improved bracelet attachment, showing the sections of the attachment moved to an expanded, unfolded position.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the improved combination wrist plate member and releasing means shown in a detached relation. A portion of the bed plate member is included in the view.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal mid-section of the device in the assembled condition.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the terminal foldable member, showing the improved aperture.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view of the releasing spring and pawl.

Fig. 6 is a section taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 4, and

Fig. 7 is a section taken on line '|-'I of Fig. 5.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the improved features of the present application are combined with the casing member 6, having an open bottom, the wrist plate member I, telescopic within said casing 6, and the foldable bracelet extension having three parts, which includes the bed plate member 8, middle foldable member 9, and terminal foldable member I, said middle and terminal foldable members being nestable within said bed plate member, there being also provided the compression spring ll coiled in a flatwise manner to extend said three-part bracelet extension; that is to say, said spring tends to extrude said bracelet extension as a whole from the open end of said casing.

Said wrist plate member I has an inner end Wall l5 to which the improved spring tongue I6 is anchored, "said tongue having an attaching portion consisting of the two side flanges I1 and an intermediate flange I 8. All of these flanges consist of laterally deflected parts of the basal portion of the resilient sheet-metal strip of which said tongue is formed, the middle flange I8 being slightly offset to the rear of the plane occupied by the other two flanges, thus affording a saddlelike flange portion seated in front of the edge portion of wall l5. When the cover plate 6 is in place, it securely holds said tongue in the operative position.

The outer flanges ll of the tongue l6 project sufficiently far from each side edge of said tongue to nearly fill up the interior width of the casing member 1. This construction centers the tongue at substantially the mid-width of the casing.

At its outer or free end, said tongue l6 has a fingerhold 2|, which is offset from the plane in the body portion of said tongue by reason of the step or rise 22 whereby said fingerhold is united to the body of the tongue. A little back of said rise 22, a triangularly shaped depression 23 in said tongue affords a backwardly directed tooth 24, which projects from its lower face as shown in Fig. '7. In stamping this depression into the metal, the metal is cut across only at the back side of the depression, as shown.

The terminal plate I 0 of the foldable portion of the structure is provided along a portion of its mid-width with a longitudinally spaced series of heart-shaped openings 25, the broad end edges of which are directed rearwardly, thus furnishing at the broad end of each of these openings a pointed, forwardly directed tooth or projection 26, adapted to cooperate in a pawl and ratchet fashion with the aforesaid tooth 24 of the spring tongue l6.

Inasmuch as the present invention pertains only to the improved attaching means for the tongue Hi and to the aforesaid modified pawl and ratchet connection between said tongue and the extrudable assembly controlled thereby, it will not be necessary to describe in further details the other structural features shown in the drawin as these have been set forth in my aforesaid copending application.

From Fig. 3, it will be seen that both the cover 6 and the tongue iii are longitudinally convexed in the same direction, and that the convexity,

that is to say, the degree of curvature of the tongue, is greater than that of the cover. Hence, contact between the inner surface of the cover and the convex side of the tongue is normally limited to the mid-length portion of the latter. Consequently, when the front-end portion of the tongue is raised to release its pawl from the extrudable member, the saddle portion of the tongue at its opposite end is pressed down upon the easing endwall I 5 with additional force, more eflectively safeguarding against displacement of the tongue when operated to release its tooth portion.

From Fig. 3 it will also be seen that the tip of the pawl 24 of the tongue l6 normally underlies and also extends a little behind the most forward part of the pointed part 26 of the basal edge of the heart-shaped opening with which it is cooperating.

This arrangement adds stability to the retentive feature of the pawl and ratchet construction, because the spring-pressed part must be-retracted a little against the opposition of the spring H before the pawl can be released therefrom. However, a moderate amount of lifting force manually applied to the tongue tip 21 will readily effect the'desired release of the pawl, because the camlike action of the nose of the pawlwill thus be caused to take place in relation to the transversely tapered tooth portion 26, this causing sufficient retraction of the extrudable member against the opposition of the spring I l to free the pawl therefrom.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall Within the scope of the subject matter claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. In a construction of the kind described, an elongated casing member having side walls and an end wall, a tongue of resilient sheet metal furnished at one end with laterally extending flanges offset from each other, thereby forming a saddle structure seatable in an edgewise manner upon said end wall, a cover member mounted upon said casing member in a position to keep the saddle portion of said tongue in place upon said end wall, a spring within sad casing member, and an extensible member within said casing member engaged by said spring, said spring tongue being furnished with a tooth normally restraining said extensible member from being extruded by the force of said spring, said tongue being manually deflectable to release its tooth from said extensible member.

2. The subject matter of claim 1 and, the sad dle structure of said tongue, consisting of a flange adjacent to each long edge thereof and a third flange located between the other two and slightly offset fromthem lengthwise of the tongue.

3. The subject matter of claim 1 and, said extensible member including a sheet-metal part having heart-shaped openings in it, the metal being cut through along the base of each of said openings, the cuts thus provided afiording a series of shoulders with which the tooth of said tongue cooperates to control the extent to which said spring extrudes said extensible member.

4; In a construction of the kind described, an elongated casing member having side Walls and an end wall, a tongue of resilient sheet metal furnished at one end witha saddle part seated upon said end wall, a cover member mounted upon said casing member in a position to keep said saddle portion of said tongue in place upon said end wall, said cover member and said tongue both being longitudinally convexed, the normal convexity of said cover member thereby limiting the contact area between said cover member and tongue to the mid-length portion of the latter, a spring within said casing member, and an extrudable member within said causing member engaged by said spring, said tongue being furnished adjacent its front end with a tooth to normally restrain said extrudable member from being extruded by the force of said spring, said tongue being manually defiectable to release its tooth from said extrudable member.

ALBERT B. GOULDEN. 

